Sanguine Kiss
by Thoughtfall Coalescence
Summary: Not a Vampire Story. One bad day, one bad turn, reveals to Jaune that he's not as right in the head as he fully believed. Killing a man and enjoying it was the first clue. (Jaune X Neo and other various pairings as I go along)
1. Prologue

**Sanguine Kisses**

 _In light of horrible computer errors, I've lost everything. Truly a frustrating time to be me. But I will persevere and bring you content (finally). If you like Mightier Than The Sword, please consider this little entry._

 **Prologue**

 **Everyone has bad days, my dad told me once when I was young enough to sit on his knee. He would regale me on his past adventures of heroism and even his mistakes but one thing that stuck in my mind was that no one was perfect and everyone was fallible. I took those lessons to heart but I never thought that I would be reminded of that in such a gruesome way…**

Jaune slowly removed the tip of Crocea Mors from his opponent. His hands trembling as the sounds of the legendary blade made scraping across the man's bones echoed in the alley way. How did it come to this? All he wanted to do was take a short cut to the airship and head back to Beacon! He was on a simple errand, how did it end with him killing a man?

He nearly dropped his sword as a feeling washed over him. He had wondered how his first non-Grimm kill would feel like but...this feeling...it wasn't of disgust. It was...something different. A small smile grew on his face as he felt something bubble up inside of him. Shock gave way to a feeling he wasn't sure was the right one to feel in this situation: joy. He was always told that the first person kill wouldn't be easy but...somehow he felt he could do it again and again and again! What was wrong with him?

"You just going to stand there like an idiot?" A voice called out to him. "Wait don't answer that, its too easy." Jaune's eyes scanned the alley way only to lock eyes with a girl who was the literal definition of heterochromia. Pink and brown hair defined the rest of her color scheme as she seemed to be living Neapolitan Ice cream. Scratch that, despite being short she did have a rather impressive bust size that Jaune's eyes did look at for a brief moment. But at that brief moment she was suddenly in his face causing him to fall back on his ass. "Are you even paying attention?"

"No?" He answered unsure. "Who are you?"

"Never mind who I am, grab your weapon and come on, stupid. Unless you want to be arrested for murder." As she said this, Jaune could now hear the sirens of the local police vehicles getting closer. Jaune paled, he didn't want to go to jail. He wasn't even sure what was going on anymore. Still he flicked his sword and sheathed it before following after the ice cream girl. Along the way Jaune silently tried to make sense of everything. He woke up this morning relatively early to go out to Vale to mail off some letters and to enjoy his day off. Now he's murdered a guy and now on the run from the police. He mentally sighed, his luck never changed.

"Hey stupid, what's your name?" The girl demanded as she lead him somewhere. Anywhere away from the cops was a good thing.

"Jaune Arc." He kept his name short and sweet. He'd long stop introducing himself the way his dad taught him. "Who are you?"

"Just keep quiet and follow me." She ordered. Jaune frowned but still obeyed. They soon were in rather well furnished safe house as the woman kept making sure they were followed or spotted. Jaune sat in on of the chairs still sort of lost.

"Alright Jaune." She said finally addressing him as something other than idiot. "Tell me what happened."

"Well..." he began nervously. "I was heading back to Beacon when that dude attacked me. It was weird, he fought like a wild animal and was constantly trying to claw out my throat. I didn't mean to kill him, it was merely self defense."

The woman sighed. 'Great, the guy who killed my target is one of Beacon's boyscout.' "Well then Jaune, I'll let the fact that you killed my target before I could get to him slide, but you need to go back to Beacon and forget everything you saw today."

'Go back to Beacon...I can't...I actually...' Jaune thought. "I...I can't. It might have been self defense...but I enjoyed every second of it. The feeling of ending that guy's life...it was almost euphoric." as he spoke his eyes slowly turned from blue to red, surprising the woman.

'There's a surprising amount of bloodlust in those eyes...' she thought amused. "So what are you saying?" She wanted to know where he was going with this.

"I enjoyed killing that guy...I can't go back to Beacon. What if...I just start killing others?" The thought of killing Cardin came to mind and he could feel himself getting giddy over it. He could almost envision it, taking off the smug bully's head and setting his corpse ablaze. There was something oddly poetic about it that he couldn't deny its appeal.

The woman on the other hand narrowed her eyes. "Well that's your problem not mine." 'Besides, if he did, it'll make the plan go much smoother.'

"No, I refuse to go back. I don't want to put my friends in danger." He replied stubbornly. "You said that guy was your target right? So you're a bounty hunter or mercenary?"

'Uh oh...' "Something like that." She said before asking. "Why?"

"Train me. Teach me how to kill." Jaune said with conviction.

"Why should I?"

"You have nothing to lose with keeping me around." Jaune said quietly. "It's not like my parents even expected me to become a hunter. In fact, when I told them I was going to Beacon, they just said their door is always open." His parents had no faith in his dream, a dream that was over. "And I'm a complete wash-up in Beacon. You could probably just kill me if I become a liability." It was harsh thinking but it was the truth.

She was going to call his idea stupid when a thought occurred. By training him, she'd get a subordinate, someone she could order around and do the menial jobs she was too skilled for. He'd become her tool, and she can focus on the important jobs.

"Alright...but you better learn quick, idiot, or I'm removing you for good." She told him.

"Not a problem, I learn by doing anyways." Jaune admitted. "Now can you tell me who you are?"

She smirked. "My name is Neopolitan. But you can call me boss." She then left the room to make a few calls. If she was going to deal with this idiot she better be prepared for it.

He gave her a lidded stare as she left. 'Even her name is referenced to the ice cream, how did I not guess that?'

 **Everyone has bad days, and my day went from bad to worse. But my old man told me that its up to me to make most of it. I guess becoming a mercenary like Neo was the best I could do at the time. I couldn't risk my friends being in danger, especially because of me.**

 **But this is only the beginning of a very long story. A story sealed with a Sanguine Kiss.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Sanguine Kiss**

 _You know a lot of fanfics I've read have set "openings" and "endings" like they're a show. I think if this fic had an opening, it'd be "Wild Fang" by Janne Da Arc. Dunno what would be the ending song, but go check out that song, yeah? It's pretty good._

 **Chapter 1**

 **A part me wondered why Beacon was considered the best combat school in the world. Looking back at my time at Beacon, I couldn't help but to realize how much of a glorified highschool it was. I found myself learning more in the first week working for Neo than I did sitting in Oobleck's class.**

 **Currently I was sitting in front of one of my current "teachers", the DJ of the local club that apparently was a front for other activities. Well...actually if I were honest with myself, the illegal activities were a front for the club. The owner Hei was a tall, imposing man that was far too nice to be a leader of a large scale criminal organization, but even at an entry level, I could tell one thing was true:**

 **Hei ran this town.**

 **My current teacher, as I said, was the DJ at Hei's establishment. His name was Rosso Treble. He was as tall as I am with black hair and red eyes and a sarcastic smirk that just made you want to punch him. Like Neo, he was also a killer but he handled things a bit differently.**

"Listen Jaune, the one thing you need to understand in this business is "never let them see you sweat". Visible fear is a sign of weakness. It's alright to be afraid, fear keeps you alive. However when put in a situation out of your control, keeping a cool head, and maybe a little bravado will go along way." He said as he flipped a balisong in his hand. "You see, no matter how calm people seem, they're just as afraid as you. A visible steel visage will unnerve them, make them make mistakes. You following me so far."

Jaune nodded. "But what if they don't back down? What if they're just as calm as you?"

"That's when you improvise." the knife closed with a clack in one hand as another quickly drew a revolver that let out a shot that flew close to his ear, and imbedded itself in the wall behind him. "You got the right idea."

"That's because that's the third time you've done that this week." Jaune groused. "I'm kind of predicting it now."

"Don't predict; adapt." Rosso said calmly as he put away the gun. "I guess all you need now is more training."

"I don't see why I had to have a weapon made." Jaune said getting up from his seat.

Rosso sighed. "I told you, Crocea Mors is a legendary weapon in its own right. People in the know will recognize it instantly and trace it back to your family."

Jaune frowned. "If my family's sword is legendary, why didn't anyone at Beacon didn't recognize it?"

"You're unassuming Jaune and that stands out. Nobody would ever assume you have a legendary weapon. However, in our world, we expect the unexpected and the expected. The unassuming are usually the most dangerous."

Jaune nodded. "So what now?"

"Well, you need to see Hei, he said he has something for you to do."

"What about the boss?" He of course meant Neo. She was adamant about being called that and nearly skewered him for calling her by her name. She said he didn't have the right to say her name.

"The boss? Oh, ice cream butt had to go do a job. Don't worry about it."

Of course he did worry. She did leave him with Hei and his organization. Apparently her and Hei went way back, almost like family. But she was the one he was expecting to be trained by. Though now that he thought about it, their styles were drastically different. She was small, agile, and he had over a foot of height over her. "Guess I'll go see what Hei wants."

"You do that. I got other things to do." Rosso slapped Jaune on the back. "Don't worry newbie, he'll go gentle on you. I think."

"Gee thanks." came the sarcastic reply.

::::-::::

Meanwhile Neo was wishing she was training Jaune. It'll probably be much more tolerable then sitting in a meeting listening to Cinder drone on about her plans. To be honest, she really didn't care what the woman was planning, as long as they got Roman out of prison, she'd be fine.

"-And so in a few weeks time, we'll be infiltrating Beacon Academy during the Vytal Festival." Cinder said looking at the gathered individuals.

Adam Taurus was a tall man who wore a mask all the time. From what Neo gleamed from the relevant information was that he was the leader of the White Fang and had a hard on for his missing partner who defected from the White Fang. The man was a walking emo stick and Neo never really bothered to care about his motives.

Mercury Black was an interesting person, but too much of an ass to work with for too long. Apparently his dad sawed off his legs and gave him robotic prosthesis to improve his fighting style. Mercury then turned around and murdered his dad. Well, she couldn't accuse him of having daddy issues, since he killed his.

And then there was Emerald Sustrai. Neo wanted to laugh at how much of an abused puppy this girl was. She hung on Cinder's every word even if it meant doing something horribly degrading. Neo knew just by looking at her that she clung on to Cinder because she had nobody else and that was pathetic. At least she had other life lines other than Roman who was her partner. Emerald refused to make any connections worth wild.

"And by we you mean?" Adam asked raising an eyebrow, or at least Neo thought he had an eyebrow.

"Why Emerald, Mercury, Neo and I, of course."

If Neo was drinking something, that would've been the perfect time for a spit take, but she wasn't so she just settled for a glance.

"Of course, she'll have to disguise herself, less one of Ozpin's sheep recognize her."

Neo mentally huffed. Great, she had to go to the idiot's former school and socialize with more idiots. Somehow this was his fault. She just knew it.

::::-::::

Jaune looked confused as he entered the room he was pointed to. _'A Gym in a Club? Now I've seen everything.'_ he thought as he looked around. Indeed the room he was in was a Gym full of work out equipment and what looked like other amenities. Hei was sitting one of the machines in a pair of sweats and a tank top. Jaune thought he looked imposing before, nearly shirtless, he could see that the man they called Junior was quite fit. He wasn't ripped like the body builders he had seen in magazines when he was going up, rather it was healthy balance of muscle and fat that gave the man a grizzly physique.

"Glad you could make it. I take it Rosso didn't shoot you this time either?"

"No, nearly grazed me though. So what are we doing now?" Jaune questioned.

"As you are now kid, you're not ready for combat." Hei said standing up. "Look at ya, you're all noodle-shaped with barely any definition."

Jaune winced. He was slightly body conscious and hearing that did sting a little. "Well, what do you have in mind?"

Hei let out a hum as he inspected Jaune. He moved around, lifting his arm up as if he was tailor. "Well...for one, we need to get some definition into ya. You're no body builder, but rounding out some of that baby fat into man muscle will help. Then we'll work on a fighting style and training regiment to compliment your weapon. However, I will be training you how to use a variety of weapons just in case you have to P.O.S. a mission."

""P.O.S."?" Jaune asked not hearing that term before.

"It means "Procure on Site". Sometimes you don't have a choice in bringing your own weapon to a job, so you have to learn how to use other weapons comfortably to complete the mission." He explained. "More so, its just good habit to know how to use a variety of weapons at any given notice."

"I see." Jaune nodded as he could see the logic behind that. "But...I didn't know you were a Mercenary too."

"Well I don't do that kind of work anymore, but I still keep my training up. It's probably the only good thing my old man taught me when I was a child."

Jaune could tell that this was a sore subject for Hei so he decided to move on. "Let's get started then."

"Right." Hei nodded appreciatively. 'Seems like he's learning some form of tact. He was quite nosy a few days ago.' "Drop and give me five hundred push ups."

"F-Five Hundred?!"

"Yeah, Five reps of a hundred. I didn't stutter. And then after than, you can give me five hundred crunches as well."

'Aw hell, this is going to be painful...'

::::-::::

Neo returned to the safe house to find Jaune laying on the bed. "H-Hey Boss...how's it going?" He said waving weakly at her.

"Jeez, what happened to you?" She questioned taking off her heels. As much as she loved them, they were still murder on her feet.

"Hei put me through boot camp." Neo merely nodded, knowing how much of a training savant her long time friend was. "I can't feel nothing but pain."

"The pain means that you're learning, stupid." She said climbing into bed with him. "Don't get any funny ideas okay? This place only has one bed, and Hei'll have a fit if he finds out I made you sleep on the floor and ruin his hard work."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Jaune muttered sleepily.

"What's that suppose to mean?" She asked with a slightly venomous tone.

"It means I like my body skewer free."

"Good boy. You can be taught." Though Jaune didn't hear any of that as he soon passed out.

Neo soon followed, secretly enjoying the warmth he brought to the bed. She hated the cold after all and any warmth was good to her.

 **End of Chapter 1**


End file.
